Snoop Dogg shocks songwriting crowd (From This Is Local London)

Snoop Dogg shocks songwriting crowd

4:49am Sunday 10th February 2013 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2013

Music fans who turned out to watch a How I Wrote That Song discussion in Los Angeles got a little more than they expected thanks to Snoop Dogg.

The rapper smoked marijuana during the BMI's annual pre-Grammy Awards panel discussion, lighting up a large roll-up on stage at The Roxy.

He briefly passed it to BoB before methodically reducing it to ash over a 15-minute period. The panel also included Busta Rhymes and songwriters Luke Laird and Evan Bogart, all of whom abstained.

Fittingly, the conversation eventually turned to Snoop's groundbreaking work on The Chronic.

Luke recalled growing up at the end of a dirt road in a small town of 700 in rural Pennsylvania. Snoop's work with Dr Dre still infiltrated his world and that of all the other country kids around him.

"Let me just say, the album everyone was listening to was The Chronic," Laird said, noting how surreal it was to be sitting on stage with Snoop.

With acoustic guitar in hand, he played a bit of his Blake Shelton hit Hillbilly Bone in its original form: a rap song. The Nashville-based songwriter had everyone bobbing their heads to the beat.

"Now I feel like more than ever you see these influences crossing genres," Luke said.